Electrical curling tongs



Oct. 13, 1970 M. M. A. TRouilLl-IET ELECTRICAL CURLING TONGS 2 Sheets-Sheet l l Filed April 2, 1968 l y c. /Nvs/vroe MA 1n/CE MAQ/E' ACH/LE nsw/Ha Av1-1vvv ess Oct 13, 1970 M. M. A. TRoulLHET 3,534,392

ELECTRICAL CURLING TONGS Filed April 2, 1968 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 /NVEN-ron MAURICE MAR/E ACH/LE 7POU/LHET United States Patent O 3,534,392 ELECTRICAL CURLING TONGS Maurice Marie Achille Trouilhet, Lyon, France, assignor to Calor Appareils Electro-Domestiques, Rhone, France, a French company Filed Apr. 2, 1968, Ser. No. 718,101 Claims priority, application France, Sept. 29, 1967, 122,902; Nov. 17, 1967, 128,773 Int. Cl. H05b 1/02; A45d 1/04 U.S. Cl. 219-225 2 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE The present invention essentially relates to improvements in electrical curling tongs provided with a thermostatic device and of a type including a cylindric heating portion, wherein is mounted a heating resistor unit and around which are wound the locks of hair, a handle extending said heating portion and a tongue, reed or the like, hingedly mounted on the apparatus and capable of catching said heating portion to form a gripper holding the wound lock.

Such devices are nowadays well known and of current use for home and professional applications. This invention aims at improving some details on such apparatus in order to make their use and application readier.

According to a first feature of the invention, a thermally insulating plug is mounted on the free front end of said heating portion and, on its end close to said heating portion, the handle is provided with a flange or the like, said plug and said ange being given dimensions proper to keep the cone which envelops them external to said heating portion.

It is thus easier to wind a lock of hair around the heating portion, the user taking as usually the apparatus by the handle, but he or she is in addition able to guide the winding and the unwinding of the lock by catching the thermally insulating plug with the other hand.

This avoids also any danger for the user of being burned, as it often happens with the hot free end of the apparatus used nowadays. In addition, owing to the special geometry of the apparatus, the heating portion of the latter rests on a plane surface, for instance a table, by said plug and said ange, so that said heating portion cannot contact and hence burn the table.

According to another feature of the invention, the aforementioned tongue is articulate about a hinge which is set off with respect to the general centre axis of the apparatus, said hinge being for instance supported by two flanges solid with the handle. In addition, the grasp actuating the tongue is advantageously shaped so as to tightly iit the adjacent portion of the handle when the tongue is kept away from the handle (the tongs being then in an open position for introducing the lock of hair). Owing to this arrangement, the gripper formed between the tongue and the heating portion opens very far, even at the fork of the gripper, this making the use of the apparatus much easier.

According to still another feature of the invention, the rear part of the handle includes a power point, for in- 3,534,392 Patented ocr. 13, 1970 ICC stance a plug of the type usually employed for connecting electric shavers to the mains supply.

As the case might be, the tongs are connected to the mains supply network either by a iiexible cord ending with a plug or receptacle corresponding in shape to the plug of the tongs, or by means of a box wherein the tongs may be placed, for instance in a laying position, said box comprising a connection corresponding to the power point mounted on the tongs so that when the tongs are placed in said box and when said box is under electric supply, the curling tongs are heated within the box up to the temperature determined by their thermostat.

The box advantageously includes a housing (wherein is mounted the corresponding power point of the box) intended for the rear part of the handle, said box moreover exhibiting at least one stillage for the middle portion of the handle having for instance a shape of a projecting flange. Said stillage and housing secure a proper placing of the tongs within the box as well as their correct connection to the supply point of the box.

According to another feature of the invention, when such a box is used, it is preferable to provide two housings and two stillages allowing to place two pairs of tongs in a single box. In this way, the user may alternately employ both pairs of tongs when they are heated to the required temperature (indicated by the going out of the signal lamp on the tongs), putting the used tongs back into the box for a new heating-up as soon as they become insufficiently hot and replacing them with the other tongs which are heated up in the interval. In this manner, the user is not hindered by the electric supply cord of the tongs, said cord being normally connected in a permanent way to the apparatus. The user also avoids any danger of a short circuit, especially when the supply voltage is higher than volts. However, in some special cases of aplication, as for instance in the setting of false hair, where danger of an electrocution is negligible, the user may perform the setting operation with a single pair of tongs permanently connected to the mains network by the exible supply cord very similar to the aforementioned cord of an electric shaver.

It may hence be readily appreciated that the use of the improved electrical curling tongs provided by this invention is especially adaptable to many cases. In this connection, it will be noted that the supply cord of the heating box may at will be ixedly or detachably mounted upon said box, said supply cord, when detachable, serving then either to supply only the box, or the box and/or directly the curling tongs. The choice of the adopted solution will for each case depend on the local admissible security norms as well as on the voltage supplied by the mains network.

According to another feature of the invention, said handle is made of two moulded shell-halves catching by one of their ends the adjacent mounting end of the heating portion. Said shell-halves and said heating portion are assembled by means of a screw and of a nut, said screw passing through said shell-halves, said mounting end of the heating portion as well as the mounting plate for the thermostat placed rearwards of the heating resistor unit. The assembly may be completed at the rearmost end of the handle by a resilient annular member. In this way, the assembly and disassembly of the apparatus are considerably simpliied.

Other improvements, features and advantages of the present invention will appear more clearly from the detailed description which will follow of two methods of embodiment, given solely by way of example. The description is made with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal section on curling tongs conformable to this invention;

l FIG. 2 is a side view, partly sectional, of the device, one shell-half of the handle being removed, the device being viewed appreciably in the direction of arrow II of FIG. 1;

FIGS. 3 and 4 are views from outside, at a smaller scale, and made respectively following arrows III and IV shown on FIGS. 4 and 3;

FIG. 5 illustrates a view from above of a heating box for two pairs of curling tongs, one of the latter being placed in the box while the other is removed, the cover of the heating box being also removed;

FIG. 6 is a view in a cross-section made following the line IV-IV of FIG. 5, the curling tongs being supposed removed from the box which is provided with its cover;

FIG. 7 presents a view of a cross-section appreciably following the line VII- VII of FIG. 5 with a partial breaking-away of some parts;

Y FIG. 8 is a view at a larger scale and with partial breaking-away, showing a cross-section made appreciably following the line VIIL-VIII of FIG. 5.

According to the method of embodiment illustrated in the FIGS. l to 4, the apparatus essentially includes a handle 1, a heating portion 2, as Well as an articulate tongue 3 cooperating with the heating portion 2 in order to constitute a gripper wherein are held the wound locks of hair.

The handle 1 is constituted of two moulded shell-halves 11 and 12, assembled following a central plane passing through the axis Y'-Y of the apparatus. On the two shellhalves 11 and 12 and at the front end of the handle 1, there is formed a projecting flange 13.

The heating portion 2 essentially comprises a smooth cylindrical metal tube 21 wherein is housed the heating resistor unit 22. The tube 21 is mounted within the handle made up by the two shell-halves 11 and 12 by means of an assembling screw 14 and of a nut 15, said screw 14 passing through the shell-halves 11 and 12 as well as through an orice provided at the rear part of tube 21.

The two shell-halves 11 and 12 advantageously include moulded portions 16 and 17 which encircle the screw 14 and pass through the orifice provided in the tube 21.

The assembly of the two shell-halves 11 and 12 is cornpleted by a resilient ring 18 mounted at the rearmost end of the handle within a circular groove formed upon the handle, as clearly appearing in FIGS. 1 and 2.

An insulating plug 23, for instance of a moulded plastic material, is mounted at the front end of tube 21, said plug 23 being riveted upon a washer 24 located in an internal gorge 25 of this tube 21.

As may be more clearly seen on the FIG. 3, the plug 23 and the flange 13 are given dimensions such as to make the cone which envelops them be external to the heating metal tube 21, in such a way that if the apparatus is laid on a plane surface XX, the metal tube 21 cannot come in contact with said surface.

As it also appears more clearly in the FIGS. 1 and 3, the tongue 3 is hingedly mounted about a pivot pin 31 supported by two flanges or ears 32, solid with the shellhalf 11 of the casing. The axis of pivot pin 31 is set off with respect to the central axis Y-Y of the apparatus. The tongue 3 is advantageously made out of a smooth metal, similar in nature to that of the tube 21. A clasp 33 is mounted, for instance embedded, rearwards from the tongue 3, said grasp 33 being worked out of a moulded thermally insulating material, for instance of a plastic material similar in nature to that of handle 1. A standard release spring 34 secures a normally closed position of tongue 3 against the tube 21.

Owing to the setting-olf of the axis of pivot pin 31 far outward from the axis Y'Y of the apparatus, and to the shape given to the grasp 33 which is capable of closely fitting the handle 1 in the open position of the gripper, as shown with discontinuous lines on the FIG. 3, said gripper may be very Widely opened when the end of a lock of hair is introduced, making the winding up of the latter easy.

With more particular reference to FIGS. 1 and 2, the electrical and thermostatic arrangement of the apparatus will now be described.

The heating resistor unit 22 is advantageously of a cylindrical type, made of a refractory material and presenting longitudinal grooves wherein are lodged heating resistors 26. The heating unit 22 is closed at both its ends with refractory cement 27. In order to ensure an electrical insulation between the metal parts (tube 21) of the apparatus and the electrical circuit of the latter, at least one insulated tubing such as 28, 29 is mounted within the tube 21, separating the heating unit 22 and the thermostatic device 4 from the tube 21.

The thermostatic device 4 is for instance constituted by a two-blade member 41 exhibiting a mobile contact 42 opposite to a fixed contact 43, the whole of the device being mounted upon a base 44, of an insulating refractory material, said base 44 being rendered solid, for example by means of a rivet 45, with a mounting plate 46. The mounting plate 46 exhibits a hole, through which passes the screw 14 used to assemble the apparatus.

The thermostatic device, of a known type, is, in a way also known, series-mounted within the electric supply circuit of the heating resistors. When the two-blade member is hot enough, it cuts out the supply of the apparatus, securing thus its thermal regulation. The heating-up of the two-blade member is secured by a small metal plate 47 presenting good heat-conducting properties, made for instance of aluminium or of copper. This small plate 47 contacts, on the one hand, the tube 21 (with interposition of the electrically insulated tubings 28 and 29) and, on the other hand, the two-blade member 41. The latter is thus almost immediately heated up to a temperature substantially the same as that of the tube 21. Moreover, to avoid the heating-up of the two-blade member by the current passing through the apparatus, a shunt 48 is parallel-connected with the two-blade member 41.

To adjust the release temperature of the thermostat, the xed contact 43 may be regulated by means of a screw 49 accessible from outside through orifices correspondingly provided in both, the tube 21 and shell-half 11, said oriiices being subsequently obturated by another screw or by a plug 50, for instance of an insulating plastic material.

Finally, in a way known per se, there is advantageously provided, in parallel at the terminals of the heating unit 22, a signal lamp 51 series-mounted with a ballast resistor 52. The lamp 51 may be seen from the outside through an indicator 53 arranged within the handle 1. When the lamp 51 goes out, the thermostat is operating and consequently the apparatus is at its proper operating temperature.

There is besides advantageously provided a two-voltage commutator, the control slider 54 of which may be seen on the FIG. 3, this two-voltage commutator of a known type, allows the series or parallel supply of the two halves composing the heating resistor 26, on which is provided, in a well known way, a central point of junction.

Another advantage offered by the invention results from its plug connection system, similar to the devices currently used for electric Shavers. Indeed, on the rear part of handle 1 are mounted, on an insulating plate 55, the two plugs or pins 56 securing the connection with a exible supply cord 57. If desired, a third earth plug may also be provided.

According to the variant of embodiment illustrated in the drawings by FIGS. 5 to 8, two pairs of curling tongs `61 may be mounted side by side within a heating box `60. When mounted within said box wherein they may beheated, the curling tongs 61 rest with their flange 62, provided at the junction of handle 63 with the heating tube 64, upon stillages 65 moulded together with box 60. The rear portion of handle 63 is lodged within housings 66 formed in a connector box 67. The tongs `61 are supplied with current by means of pins or plugs 68 cooperating with elastic blades 69 and 70 forming socket, said plugs being suitably connected to the mains network by a flexible supply cord 71 and a junction 72. In 77 may be seen the signal light indicating that tongs 61 are heated.

The supply current delivered by the mains network and arriving to box 60 through the cord 71 may be put on or oi through a commutator, the control knob 73 of which its mounted in the connector box 67 The shape of this knob 73 is such that, when the box is under supply in the position shown with full lines on the FIG. 8, said knob 73 laterally projects beyond the side Wall 74 of box 60, preventing the covering 75 from being put in place over the box 60. In contrast, when the device is stopped, the knob 73 having the position shown with dotted lines in the FIG. 8 or with full lines in the FIG. 7, is made to disappear behind wall 74 in such a way that the cover 75 of box 60 may be installed.

This arrangement avoids any unwanted heating of tongs 61 when the heating box is closed and consequently a prohibited overheating of the box itself.

On the contrary, when the covering 7S is removed, there is no more danger for the box 60 of being overheated; this is avoided owing to the cooperating shapes of box 60 with its stillages 65 and of the tongs 61 provided with the insulating ends 76, and especially owing to the thermostat incorporated to each pair of tongs.

Of course, the invention is by no means limited to the described and represented methods of embodiment which have been given only by way of example. In particular, the invention covers all technical equivalents of the described means as well as their combinations, if they fall within the scope ofthe accompanying claims.

What is claimed is:

1. Electrical curling tongs comprising in combination: a substantially cylindrical portion around which locks of hair are to be wound, a hingedly mounted tongue capable of closely iitting said cylindrical portion and forming a gripper for holding the hair, a resistor heating unit mounted in said cylindrical portion, a handle extending said heating unit, electrical connection means including two pins and provided at the outer portion of said handle, thermally insulating plug means fixed on the free end of said cylindrical portion, said handle being provided with an annular flange being loc-ated at its end adjacent to said cylindrical portion, said plug means and said annular ange being so formed and dimensioned as to define an imaginary cone enveloping said plug means and said annular ilange outside of said cylindrical portion, and a heating box for housing said curling tongs and supplying electrical current to said heating resistor, said box comprising: a bottom wall and a rear wall substantially perpendicular to said bottom wall; a connector box mounted on said bottom wall and said rear wall, said connector box including housings adapted to receive said rear portion of said handle, and elastic blades forming a socket capa-ble of cooperating with said pins of said tonks; stillage means integral with said bottom wall and on which said annular ilange means of said handle rests; a cover adapted to overlie said heating box and including a top wall, two side Walls, and a front and rear wall, said front wall cooperating with said plug means for firmly locking said tongs resting upon said stillage means and inside said connector box Within said heating box.

2. Electrical curling tongs according to claim 1, wherein an electric switch is mounted on said connector box, said electric switch including controlling means associated with said cover so as to supply said heating box only when said cover is removed and to provide the switching off of said supplying electrical current when said cover is in closing position upon said heating box.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 397,159 2/1889 Weldon 132-37 1,210,018 12/1916 Trood. 1,325,022 12/1919 Lightfoot. 1,679,756 8/ 1928 Allen 219-247 2,394,973 2/1946 Bergen 132-34 2,648,757 8/19-53 Harper 219-241 3,293,528 12/1966 Rosen et al 219-242 1,630,078 5/1927 Smith 132-37 X FOREIGN PATENTS 119,094 9/ 1918 Great Britain.

364,899 1/ 1932 Great Britain.

343,440 9/ 1936 Italy.

ANTHONY BARTIS, Primary Examiner U.S. Cl. X.R. 

